Thoughts on Love
by Kidalana
Summary: Hermes and Shizu stay up late and talk about love. [one sided HermesKino, & ShizuKino]


**Warnings; **Hints at both a one sided Hermes/Kino & Shizu/Kino.**  
**

**Disclaimer**; Stop making fun of me!

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It was night. Cold, dark and empty. Sitting on an empty horizon dotted with a few trees that towered over his head with ease was a simple, somewhat small, tent. Beside it a much used dune buggy and a similarly worn looking motorrad. Inside the tent were two people, merely acquaintances who wished not to take up so much room, and a white fluffy dog. On one side of the tent was a small traveler with dark hair, sleeping in a tangle of blankets but subconsciously making sure not to move too far in her sleep. On the other side was a tall boy with similarly dark hair. Unlike the girl he was sharing space with he was laying on his back, blankets neatly tucked over him and hands rested folded on his chest as he looked up, wide awake. On one side of him was the large dog, sleeping soundly and happily. Both felt the urge to never be unprepared, the boy had his katana to one side just as the girl had her guns under her pillow.

And so in a heavy awkward silence the night wore on.

The decision to share a tent was something that Kino didn't seem to have minded, it would have been the slightest bit time consuming for both of them to set up independent tents. And since their meeting had occurred late in the night when both were ready to pass out from exhaustion setting up one tent was the first thing they did. However that exhaustion from earlier seemed to leave Shizu quickly as the light breathing of the other somehow kept him awake.

Looking over Riku who slept soundly beside him he spared a glance at the other travler. Seeing her sleep was somewhat strange to him, after all he'd only seen her moving. Inwardly he smiled though taking note that she slept in a somewhat messy fashion, he'd always imagined her to be neater in her sleep though. Passively he watched as she turned in her sleep, moving from her sprawled position on her back to her side, facing him as she slept. It was easy for him to notice how relaxed she looked when she slept, her eyes closed lightly, lips parted ever so slightly, hands gently tucked under her head and her small chest taking in small shallow breaths.

Quickly he turned his head and looked away, feeling a strange quickening of his own heart beat and a funny tightness in his own chest. Studying the ceiling of the tent he wondered about what would happen if the two actually did travel together, would he ever get any sleep? Knowing that she was sleeping so close to him? Closing his eyes he willed the warmth that had suddenly focused on his face away and hoped that sleep would come quicker than something very fast.

With his eyes closed there was nothing to focus on and once again he heard the shallow breaths of Kino. Once again she was keeping him awake without realizing it. Next time, if there was one, he vowed that he would go to sleep before her. Long before her.

Realizing that his foreseeable future currently held no sign of sleep he decided to leave the confined space. Calm himself and try at sleep again later. Sitting up slowly and carefully he ducked his head downward as to not brush it against the top of the tent. Looking over at Kino briefly he wondered in a detached sort of way if her hair was as soft as it looked. However he shook such thoughts from his head as he slipped on his shoes and carefully tread out of the tent.

Last thing he wanted to do was wake either Kino or Riku or both and have to explain himself.

Once outside the crisp night air cleared out the strange suffocating feeling from earlier and he walked a while outside, stretching his legs and wishing the exhaustion from earlier would return. Passing the two wheeled machine though he stopped looking over at the silent vehicle and sat down.

"Why are you awake?" was said in one of the most accusing tones by Hermes. Quickly he added, "How long have you been up?"

Shizu knew full well that the motorrad disliked his dog, he wasn't too sure about Kino's friends opinion on himself but in the next few minutes he'd most likely find out. Hermes, after all, stated his feelings quite plainly. "Couldn't sleep," replied the tall man, ignoring the second question.

Hermes was silent for a while, the moonlight glistening lightly off of his chrome. "Is the suck-up asleep?"

He nodded.

"Kino?" Hermes asked after a pause.

Once again he nodded, feeling somewhat guilty.

Silence fell on the two. After all they weren't the best of friends and had very little to talk about. However Shizu wished they did have something to talk about, conversation distracted him from odd feelings. Loosing himself in his own thoughts he looked upward at the sky.

"You didn't do something to her, did you?" Hermes said accusingly, misinterpriting the other's silence. Realizing what he said he added in a quick hurried tone, "Not that you could though, Kino would stop you."

Shizu looked over at the motorrad in silence, noticing the concern the two wheeled machine seemed to hold for his rider. "Do you love her?" He asked suddenly, for some reason unable to say the dark haired traveler's name.

Of course Hermes would make things difficult for him, "Who?" he asked, seeming to forget his earlier question.

Swallowing a wave of nervousness, he replied in a simple tone, "Kino."

The motorrad was quiet as if he were thinking over the question quite completely, not leaving a room for error, "I guess."

Choosing not to continue the thought though Shizu remained silent and considered the stars carefully.

Hermes however had a sudden burst of knowledge and recited to the silent boy; "_Love does not consist of gazing at each other, but in looking together in the same direction._"

Truthfully Shizu didn't see how that fit into the conversation but looked over at the motorrad, "What's that mean?"

Acting like a scholarly type the motorrad explained his logic to the other, "I don't know."

Smiling slightly he replied in a more relaxed tone, "Guess you'd have to better understand love to understand that quote."

"Mhm," said the motorrad, "Such a confusing word."

Finding himself once again in agreement with Hermes he added, "Can be interpreted in so many different ways."

Shizu's statement was met with a sound of agreement and the motorrad questioned the other, "What about you though?"

Tilting his head over to look at the motorrad, "What do you mean?"

"Kino, do you love her?"

The suggestion of loving Kino created a sudden intake of breath, did he? "I don't know..." he ventured at a reply.

Hermes exclaimed in a surprised tone; "What does that mean!"

"That I don't know." he replied in a calmer tone.

"Well how could you tell I loved Kino?" demanded the motorrad.

Shizu thought a moment and replied, "You seem happy when she's around you and you can seem concerned when she's not." Pausing he wondered if Hermes would understand that and added, "How can you tell if I love Kino?" Once again, saying her name produced strange effects on his body, confusing him in more ways than one.

Accepting the answer Hermes made a funny noise of disapproval, "I can't tell if you love Kino, _that's why I'm asking_."

The emphasis on the second part of the sentence reminded Shizu of a concerned brother, in what way did Hermes love Kino? The same way that Shizu probably did or was it in a more friendly, brotherly sort of way?

"A lot of people love Kino though," Hermes said.

Curious Shizu looked over at the motorrad, the two wheeled machine did travel with her more often. "But who does she love?"

Hermes was silent and replied in a serious, almost sad tone, "Traveling."

Somewhat surprised to hear that tone of voice from him the brown haired boy questioned the other in a careful way, "But I thought you liked to move."

"I do," Hermes replied in the same, almost sad, tone from earlier, "But I know that Kino loves traveling too much to love me too."

Shizu was stunned, that was somewhat of a depressing statement from a motorrad. However no words would come, and appropriately he remained silent. "Would you like me to leave?" he asked.

Ignoring what Shizu said he added, "Kino's easy to love."

What the motorrad meant by that the dark eyed man didn't know. Standing up he smiled over at the traveling vehicle once again, "Well, I'm going to try and get some sleep."

Hermes was quiet as Shizu turned to walk away, "Good morning!" He cheerfully said to the retreating traveler, earning a smile from the silent man and similar wishes for sweet dreams.

Entering the tent again the first thing that he noticed was that Kino was once again laying on her back, one hand lightly resting on her chest. Kneeling beside her he noticed some of her hair had fallen into her face. Without really thinking such an action through fully he reached one of his hands out to gently brush the hair from her face. With such a small action he noticed many things. Firstly that her hair was indeed rather soft and pleasant feeling and secondly, her skin was similarly soft and pleasant to the touch.

Once again he felt a familiar quickening of his own heart and a warmness in his face. Watching the other traveler's sleeping face once again he leaned forward slightly and cautiously kissed her exposed forehead. The feeling of his lips against her skin was just as he imagined it, and such a feeling was addicting. His heart beat fast and nervously pulled away from Kino, fearing that she'd wake up.

However she didn't. He knew though that if his intentions had been negative and harmful and if he hadn't been slow and silent she would have waken and the cold barrel of her weapon of choice would be pressed to his own forehead. Shizu knew he wouldn't like that. Moving away from the lightly sleeping Kino he took off his shoes again and slid back into his own blankets, briefly imagining how different things could be. Looking over at her once again he reached out to pet Riku on the head, turning his focus to his dog. To himself.

Away from Kino.

After all, plenty of people loved Kino. With Shizu being one of the many. However Kino loved traveling, none of them really had a chance.

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Antoine de Saint-Exupery said this


End file.
